Nautilus International is a trade union and professional organisation representing more than 22,000 maritime professionals in the UK, Netherlands and Switzerland. The award honours an officer trainee who has displayed particular determination and commitment or has had to overcome special challenges during their training.

On receiving his award, Declan (20) from Selby in Yorkshire said: “I am honoured to receive this award from Nautilus UK. I tried my best during my training and it is nice to be acknowledged and I am happy that I did what was expected of me by Carisbrooke Shipping, Warsash and my family.”

The Carisbrooke Shipping-sponsored cadet, who started his Deck HND programme in September 2013, was nominated for this year’s award by Academy staff who commended him for being ‘an enthusiastic and engaging student’ who has worked hard to achieve the required academic standards.

John Bazley, Head of Academic and Certification Programmes at Warsash says: “We are delighted for Declan, despite facing a number of personal challenges during his training, he has impressed staff by approaching both his academic and seagoing training in a professional and mature manner.”

Declan says getting to interview stage at the age of 15 for the deck officer HND programme has been his biggest achievement so far: “I have dyslexia and worked hard to ensure I met the entry criteria for GCSE’s, but I also got involved with sea cadets, the Duke of Edinburgh awards and swam at county level. I knew that if I could just get an interview with a sponsoring shipping company, they would see I had the attributes to be a ship’s officer.”

Presenting the award, Nautilus General Secretary Mark Dickinson said: “Good quality cadets are the very lifeblood of our industry and despite some of the current gloom, there is no doubt that global demand for skilled and experienced maritime professionals will continue to grow.”

Mr Dickinson also congratulated Isle of Wight-based Carisbrooke Shipping for not only sponsoring Declan’s training but giving the commitment to ongoing employment as a junior officer following successful completion of his studies.

Keen to do well in the shipping industry, Declan has big plans for the future: “Once I have accumulated sufficient sea time, I aim to return to the Academy to study for my chief mate certificate and ultimately become a Master Mariner,” he says.